I've done all my research for canning bean with bacon soup, but has anyone here done it? Ball Blue Book, the University of Florida, and my favorite BwB soup stove-top recipe are my sources. I'm hoping to adapt my recipe to pressure canning. Attached is my preliminary round in the think-tank.

Judy Lee :roll:

You are ambitious. I have canned the beans before and I have froze stock for soup in cubes. Let me know how it comes out :D

Hi, Ruth

Will post here as soon as the jars are cool enough to sample. Need to polish the recipe first, and decide on quarts or pints. Pints, most likely, because the first batch is always experimental. I've been meaning for the past few years to can my own BwB soup. Supermarket prices were bad enough back then, and are higher now. Will buy ingredients after May 1, and keep track of the cost. Thanks for the encouragement.

Judy Lee

I have previously canned homemade chili, with beans/beef/spices, etc. It was such an easy meal when the kids were little. I could made a huge batch, then can it into quart jars. They loved it over corn chips/cheese for Sunday evening supper. I used all the hints and suggestions from the ball book. It worked great. Adjust the pressure for the altitude. I was in WY, so I used 14 lb of pressure. You will need less being in CA. I think I processed it for 1 hour, or was it for 90 minutes? Can't remember for sure without getting out my ball book. But it was a time saver.

I also had a friend that canned DRY pinto beans. She put 2/3 cup of dry washed beans into a hot pint jar. Filled it with 1/2 tsp salt then boiling water to within 1 inch of the top. Process it for 40 minutes at recommended pressure for your altitude (mine was 14-15 lb). It was great to have beans ready to put into a cassarole/dip, etc. Hope you have some great tasting beans!

Sara

This is my first time canning a convenience food, so I am encouraged by your example. If I can get the soup to work, plain pintos and chili are next. I've seen recipes for canning dry beans, but I'm not ready for that yet. I'm off to re-read the Ball book.

Judy Lee

:D

I think you have motivaged me too Judy Lee! It seems next to impossible to make a small batch of so many kinds of beans. But my family is getting smaller and smaller. If I were to make a batch, using the ham bone I kept in the freezer, I could can it, and enjoy it just a bottle at a time. I've canned my spaghetti sauce every summer for years- it's about 1000 times better than boughten!

Here's something to make you smile. The first year I lived in Utah, just married to a wonderful batchlor with 2 boys. They helped me plant my little garden, enjoyed the tomatoes, then as they came ripe faster than they were being eaten, I decided to get a batch of spagetti sauce going. They watched me simmer, add peppers, onion, etc. They in amazement they declaired "Wow - you made tomatoes into FOOD" But since then, they are spoiled into thinking that I can cook (or mend) anything!

And smile I did! Kids have a totally enchanting view of the world. Thank you for that.

I've looked through the Ball Blue Book again, and it all seems straightforward, so why am I hesitating? Maybe I'm questioning whether to process the bean soup partially cooked, or fully cooked--just make up my normal batch and load the canner. I'm overthinking this, I know, but I've got to get off dead center and DO something!

The bean with bacon soup turned out great, even though I used only 1 pound of bacon. Made up the difference with an envelope of Goya brand ham bouillon. The beans boiled for 30 minutes before being loaded into jars and processed. Two days later, the result is almost the same consistency as a commercial can of bwb soup. Recipe yielded 10 pints.

I went on to can 7 pints of beef stew, but haven't opened any yet.

DH has been complaining lately that I cook too much (too many leftovers), so this round of canning has satisfied my yen for a while. Just don't have the knack for cooking for two.

Thanks, everyone, for your encouragement. I feel I have expanded a skill set that benefits everyone around me.

Hi, Judy Lee. Would you mind sharing your recipe and how you did this with just a little more detail? I love bean and bacon soup, but I've never made my own. I'm canning today...Thanks!!

Hi Buttercream

Will find my notes and post them here. Might take a day or two.

Judy Lee